Stolen Credit

Whether you create pottery or art or glam that 2 slide presentation,I would like to hereby state- you have full rights of authorship. You must ward off anyone trying to claim your credit.

At a fancy restaurant, for instance, you'd come across the waiter who takes your order asks, “How’s the food, sir?” .. “Superb,” you reply. Your spouse gives a thumbs up. A friend remarks, “The lasagna was fabulous.” The waiter thanks you all in dulcet tones. And you wonder briefly, why is this dude acting all humble and preening when he has nothing to do with the cooking of lasagna or anything else food-like?

This is why the head Chef, the actual conjurer of magical fare, sometimes appears at your table. He is there to redress the imbalance in the universe. He listens to your preferences and offers to rustle up things not on the menu. But his main role is to tell you: compliment 𝘮𝘦. I’m the real dude here.

If you’re a creative someone in your field of work, it’s a matter of time before someone happens to steal your credit. An interviewee may present you your own campaign as theirs. “Quite brilliant. How did you think of that?” you enquire. Feigning humility, they hem and haw. “Don’t know. It just came.”

Which probably explains the touchiness of us creative folks. And why we walk around with a watchful, hunted look about ourselves. Some of us can’t even bear the stakeholders, handling people casually saying “my campaign” or “my idea” in meetings. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 idea? You weren’t even there in the building when it was created.

Credit matters. Not only for individuals, but also organisations.

I used to work in an agency. You see, in Ad agencies, we used key numbers in print ads to mark our territory. The key number was (strangely) the 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 of the ad agency or its abbreviation: like Oglivy or J&B (Jones&Bleifer) or .. well you get my drift.

A print ad for Dettol, say, had the key number along its edge in discreet, tiny letters, hidden in plain sight. Its job was simple: “Know ye all that this ad was created by us.”

Today's websites too carry a telltale sign of creative ownership in the footer: Designed by XYZ . Bingo. Authorship asserted.

By the way, this credit business is nothing new.

Disclaimer: As an avid reader of Tamil history, Allow me to illustrate with few facts I've discovered.

A thousand years ago, the great Cholas (Tamil empire) in India, built the impressive 'Nataraja temple' in a place called Chidambaram with its nine majestic 'gopurams'(Ornate, monumental towers). Of which, the South gopuram is noteworthy. Because it was built by, er, the rival Pandyan kings (another Tamil dynasty) later.

You should pause, for a quick google search. Type 'Nataraja temple, India'. The sheer work done will help you brace for my curated choice words.

Now, if you stand in the gateway of the South gopuram and look up at the roof, You will see etched there two curved fishes: the Pandyan symbol, the logo on their battle flags. Their key number.

The fishes are talking to you, loud and clear, across the ages. “Know ye this. Of all the gopurams, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 one was constructed by us, the mighty Pandyans.”

What the honorable Pandyans did NOT do, was to etch their symbol on the eight earlier Chola gopurams as well.

(Sigh)

In the possible case of not understanding the short history lesson above, Or what I'm referring to .. just think of Sisyphus. Read on how, despite continuing to pay his due.. how credit.. mostly goes unmetered and outcome is made futile. At the end of the day, the effort has materialized into thin air. And with few lines of blanks in silence, I shall pay homage to that awful Zeus's (boss/colleague) at your own workplaces.

(silence)

( .. )

The need for credit. And the greed for undue credit.

There is a huge difference. No?